Skip to main content

Martha

Text: Luke 10:38-42, John 11:17-27, 38-40
Personally, I think Martha gets a bad rap. Perhaps it is the Type A, go-getter in me jumping to her defense, but the world needs Marthas. I love to rest and soak in the moment as much as the next gal, but sometimes we need those folks who get stuff done, am I right?
We know Martha as the “doer” in this familiar passage from Luke 10. She opens her home and offers what she has to the Lord. She lets her sister Mary know, via a conversation with Jesus, what she expects of her. It doesn’t seem she’s being completely unreasonable either, at least not from what we see in Scripture. She isn’t walking around bitter and hostile, slamming pots and pans, rolling eyes and sighing loudly—behaving as a victim of her own standards and demanding everyone in earshot do the same. Not that I know anything about that. Ahem.
Martha insists on making Jesus’ visit a good one. And when her expectations aren’t being met, she makes it known by taking her complaint straight to the guest of honor. Let’s listen in on their conversation:
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”
The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:40-42 HCSB, emphasis added)
It’s clear Martha has a servant’s heart (we’ll see her serving again in John 12:2). We can hear the unspoken longing behind her plea to Jesus in her home that day—she just wanted to serve her Master and serve Him well. Well-intended “doing” is good, but not when it distracts us from what is best.
When the Messiah is sitting in your living room, the dirty dishes can wait.
Jesus didn’t come to Martha’s house to eat. He’s the Son of God, after all. As we see from the story of the loaves and fishes (Luke 9), He knows how to get some food if He wants some. Jesus came to give the one thing both Mary and Martha needed—He came to give them Himself.
In John 11, we see the two sisters in a very different circumstance—their brother, Lazarus, has died. Mary and Martha send word to Jesus about their brother’s death, and while Mary and the others stay in the house mourning, our “doer” runs out to meet Jesus (John 11:20). Here’s what happens next:
Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.”
“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her.
Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.
(John 11:21-25 HCSB, emphasis added)
Once again, Jesus teaches Martha a subtle but crucial distinction: He doesn’t just have the power to give new life, He Himself IS new life.
His presence is the one necessary thing.
We are all Marthas and Marys, struggling to know when to sit and when to run, when to “do” and when to “be.” But the one necessary thing remains—the life-saving, heart-changing presence of Jesus.
Wherever we are today, may we find ourselves there with Him.

SHE READS TRUTH/Women In The Word




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miriam

Miriam was the big sister of Moses. Her name (sometimes rendered as Mary in English) means 'bitter' although it could also signify 'one who loves or is loved by Yahweh'. Yahweh means 'the self-existent one'. Yahweh is one of the ways the children of Israel referred to God. Meet the family Amram and Jochebed were the father and mother of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. Moses was the youngest of the three yet became the leader of the pack (Exodus 2:3-4; Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59). Moses was the man who led Israel out of Egypt. As the big sister of the family Miriam knew all the secrets. Women often get to know about things that men don't. When Pharaoh of Egypt decreed the death of all Israel baby boys in a desperate attempt to curb the growth of Israel, Amram and Jochebed put baby Moses into a waterproof basket and set it on the river in an attempt to save his life. It was Miriam who was watching the basket when the daughter of Pharaoh discovered it. It w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Feed My Sheep

Jesus Reinstates Peter John 21:15-20 New International Version (NIV) When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said,  “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said,  “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said,  “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him,  “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time,  “Do you love me?”  He said, “Lord, you know all things;  you know that I love you.” Jesus said,  “Feed my sheep.     Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”   Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Deborah

Deborah was a prophet, a leader (otherwise known as a Judge) in Israel as well as the wife of Lappidoth (Judges 4:4).  Deborah means 'bee'. Bees are responsible for pollination of flowering plants. Pollination is what creates seeds that grow into other plants. One third of the human food supply depends on insect pollination of plants and bees play a major role in this 1 . The biblical Deborah, like a bee, fulfilled an active and vital role in bringing life to the community. Background After the death of Joshua, the man who had led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, God raised up Judges to lead and rule Israel. The first Judges God used were Othniel, Ehud and Shamgar (Judges 3). And then came Deborah. In Deborah's day Israel had no overall leader. Everyone did whatever they pleased and the nation fell into sin and were oppressed by the Canaanites (Judges 21:25). Jabin was the Canaanite king during the era of Deborah. Sisera was the commander of Jabin's...
Post a Comment
Read more